Press of Luck
by Eme
Summary: It's been a year since Jusendo. A year since the failed Wedding Fiasco. Our favorite pigtailed boy and his tomboy continue to dance to the same worn out tune. Will anything ever change? A rooftop heart to heart and a change of luck may be all it takes...


I started writing this story back in 2011 and it has taken me this long to reach a point of completion. I'm still not completely satisfied with the ending. I feel like there is something missing there. But I figure I may as well put it up as is, and hopefully stumble across how to change it at a later time.

This is merely a fangirls musings. I own nothing.

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She was so easy to love.

He couldn't remember when it happened exactly. He didn't have a lot of experience with it... emotions, that is. It wasn't like those stupid movies she liked so much. They didn't see each other from across the room and music didn't swell. One day his head and life had no room in it for anything except the Art and making sure he stole enough food from the old man to survive, and the next...there she was. Bringing with her a whole slew of feelings and worries that had never meant anything to him before.

She wasn't the type of girl he'd pictured as "the one".

Ok, that sounded bad. But really, she wasn't, because he'd never bothered to stop and picture one to begin with. Even if he had, he never would have been able to create her. Guys don't think about the little things, the important things. It's usually hair color, breasts or asses, and that's really about it, as far as he could tell from school yard talk. Those things weren't really a part of his world- till recently. Maybe the void of any expectation was why he knew.

So, a guy might over look her, at first. Till she smiled. Till she laughed at your jokes, offered you a hand when you fell. Till you were touched by that heart that seemed to have no bounds. Till you couldn't wait to hear her opinion, and spent those times you were away from her thinking how she'd react.

He wasn't surprised that so many fell in love with her.

To be the one damn lucky enough to be at the center of the heart she wears on her sleeve, is to be someone who never has to worry. Her loyalty is unwavering. God, he loved and hated that about her. In a normal guy's life it would only be a good thing. But he wasn't a normal guy and that loyalty meant more. It meant countless times of recklessly throwing herself into dangers wake. The only one to ever try to save him. It scared him, how willingly she would die for him.

But it was that loyalty and her heart that made him love her. You could leave your heart in Akane's hands and know that she would protect it, never leave it. Never sell it for some lousy fish and pickles. She'd always go after him, with a basket of food and thermos of hot water. Who else did that? Not the old man. Not any of this school pals. Of all the wild-eyed martial arts women fighting for their 'beloved Ranma', not a single one of them paused in the scuffle to notice he'd run off or worry if he'd get dinner that night. Just her.

So yeah, he'd admitted it, he loved her. He, Ranma Soatome loved Akane Tendo. Loved her more deeply and seriously than any 18 year old kid probably had a right to. Jusendo had put an end to any attempt to deny that in his mind, but out loud?

That was another story.

You'd think that an ordeal like Jusendo would have changed everything. That almost being consumed by an egg, having Akane turning into a doll, then saving his life by stupidly getting in the way (and almost dying!), killing a demi-god, and Akane, wonderfully tenacious Akane, surviving; would rock the foundation of the earth and move the stars. But it didn't. In the end he still couldn't admit it to her face, and even a year later; here he was outside her door staring at the little yellow duck, working up the gall to apologize.

He supposed that was a change, a part of the great many subtle shifts that had happened since Jusendo and the Wedding fiasco. They still fought, not as often and not with as much edge, but occasionally, like today there was an undercurrent that Ranma couldn't stop. A horrible kata that once he started engaging in no matter how much he didn't want the end results, there was no way to avoid it. It usually ended with her leaving, tears in her eyes, and him feeling like dog shit on someone's shoe. But whereas in the past he'd lay low and let it blow over, now he had to apologize and set things right before bed. The nightmares were worse if he didn't, and he couldn't live with seeing her slip deeper into sadness.

That was another change, his bright star had begun to fade. The crazy of their life no longer extracted the same vivid reactions. She just looked tired, tired and sad. She was losing weight, and got headaches more frequently. Whenever the crazy fiances came around it didn't evoke the infamous Akane wrath, her aura would flicker and she'd walk away. He'd manage to slip out of their claw like grasps and catch up with her, unwilling to let her out of his sight for too long.

That was his change. He'd always been protective of the mallet wielding tomboy, at first out of obligation. She was after all, out of her league when it came to the screw balls that showed up to fight him. But that quickly turned into a deep rooted unwillingness to let her get hurt. Now it was a true and urgent need. He blamed the nightmares mostly, he wouldn't be so edgy about her being on her own, if he didn't have to live through that fucking day every night. Since he hadn't yet found a way to make them stop, all he could do was reassure himself throughout the day that she was alive. That she was still breathing.

He took a deep breath, fist raised to knock on the door. Things had to change. He couldn't keep having this frantic worry, she couldn't keep looking so sad. With that being the only plan in Ranma's head he knocked on the door.

No answer. That was to be expected. Luckily through the years together they had moved past the stage in their relationship where Ranma had to fear for life and limb if he entered Akane's room uninvited.

Slowly he opened the door, it was unlocked, a good sign.

"Akane...?" He spoke softly not wanting to wake her if she was sleeping.

But the room was empty. The bed neatly made, no clothes on the floor, her desk undisturbed. His heartbeat began to skyrocket as thousand different scenarios entered his mind, all of them involving a kidnapper, a frightened Akane and ending in murder. As his grip on the door knob tightened the sensory part of his brain took over and he saw the evidence of the missing Akane.

The window was open and the curtains fluttered gently in the breeze, playing a game of peek-a-boo with the rope ladder outside.

She'd gone to the roof. He took a deep breath, repeating his new mantra. She's on the roof. Safe on the roof.

Silently he climbed on the roof. The sun was setting, painting the sky in a vibrant fiery hue and set against this backdrop she sat. Knees pulled up, skirt fluttering softly in the slight breeze, head resting in her hand as if the weight of it all was too much. Her hair shined red in the light and without realizing it Ranma gasped every so slightly at the sight of her.

It was just enough of an inhale to give him away and in an instant her dark chocolate eyes were locked with his. His heart broke at how tragically beautiful she looked. Luckily she broke off their stare with a wave of her hand and a heavy sigh.

"Not now Ranma..."

The sigh was like a punch to his gut, laden with defeat. A thought that scared him almost as much as the memory of holding her lifeless. He scuffed his feet on the roof, stuffing his hands in his pockets.

"I know... I'm sorry." A quick glance up showed that she was still not looking at him, not glaring, hands not clenched. He took it as good a sign as he was going to get and walked up a foot behind her.

"Mind if I sit?" She didn't say yes, she didn't say no. She just continued staring off into the horizon, her lack of response irked him more than he would admit. Not having a reaction out of her was tantamount to her not caring in his twisted mind. They sat there in silence, he stared unabashed at her from his vantage point for some time before she finally spoke.

"I don't know what to do with myself anymore." She sat up a bit straighter, and Ranma made sure to be still and quiet; not wanting some move on his part to stop her from speaking. "I've thought, and thought, and I haven't a fucking clue." She sighed one of those horrible sighs again and brushed her hand through her hair.

"I use to know what I was going to do with myself. I had a plan. I was going to go to school, get good grades, get into a University, study the Art and business, run the Dojo. Kasumi would get married, she and her family could live in the house and one of her children would then be heir."

Ranma's eyebrows shot up, the only part of him he allowed to move during this whole little speech of hers. It was the first time she'd ever spoken to him about any plans she might have had. It was the first time he'd realized how serious she was about the Dojo. Sure he knew intellectually that she was the heir and she took that seriously, but he never thought about it being something she loved. Something she planned for before him. His mouth was dry and for some reason his stomach tightened but she had opened the door and he wanted to know.

"You-" He stuttered a little as her head whipped back to look at him, as if she'd forgotten he was there. "You weren't going to get married yourself?" She eyed him, an inner debate going on in her brown eyes. It was like this with them, having to weigh the options of sharing, he chalked it up to the both of them having to defend themselves way too many times in their lives.

"No." She said at length and turned back to the sunset, and then back at him with a rueful smile. "Remember this was the plan when I was sixteen, and fighting off a horde of boys every day at school. Doesn't lend itself to matrimony." He chuckled and nodded his head, "No denying that. Assholes." He flung a little pebble from the roof, watching it disappear. She was talking to him now, and that meant things would be better, he allowed his muscles to relax a bit and scooted himself up to sit next to her. Their clothes barely whispering off each other. It was the only reason he heard the last bit of her explanation.

"And I just didn't want to get hurt." His neck snapped to her as he heard the harsh little whisper. Her eyes are filled with unshed tears, her hands clenched tightly on her knees. Gently he leaned over and bumped her shoulder raising an eyebrow not trusting himself to actually vocalize his questions, not sure how to ask her to bare her heart so openly. But as with so many things with them, she got it. Slowly she let out a breath, blowing her bangs up, laughing to keep the tears from falling.

"Stupid ne? But it's why it wasn't part of the plan. Daddy loved Mom. Truly LOVED her. And when she d-died..." She stopped a moment and shook her head, Ranma kept his hand clenched to his own knee afraid to touch her but wanting desperately for her not to be in pain. "When she died, he just wasn't the same. Like a shell. The Art held no passion for him anymore, hell, half the time he couldn't muster up the energy to be our Dad. Not that I blame him! I just...didn't want it to happen to me." Her glance at him was nervous and she started to fidget, for a moment he thought she'd get up and leave. It was that thought that caused his hand to dart out and take hers. She still wouldn't look at him but latched her other hand to his, eyes closed trying oh so hard not to cry. His stubborn Akane.

"Hey. It's not stupid. You were a kid and you had your Mom taken away, it's a rational conclusion. And it ain't like there were a whole lot of people to show you different. Jackasses at school trying to beat you into being their girlfriend." She smiled a little in the corners of her pink lipped mouth at that, and he felt like he won a prize. He didn't know if he should let her hand go or not, it was so small and ridiculously fragile feeling in his calloused hands. How she managed to throw the punches she did and not mar such a little thing would remain a mystery to him. A question niggled at his brain as he stared at their hands, she hadn't moved hers. One rested in his and the other on top, so he made no move of his.

"So...what's the plan now?" He tried to be nonchalant about it, but even he knew he failed miserably. She scoffed instantly "Plan? No plan now! Too much crazy for a plan." She sighed, would that he could make her stop, and looked up at the sky. Her hair falling back from her face the wind kissing her cheeks. Ranma wondered what that felt like. A quiet companionable silence fell over the two of them his hand still cradled in Akane's lap, his mind running around in a thousand different circles. Her in the middle of everyone. He was a little startled when he heard her soft voice out loud.

"What about you?"

He blinked, his eyes coming into focus, blushing slightly when he realized that in his reverie he had been absentmindedly caressing Akane's hand. She didn't seem to notice, and just looked at him with those eyes. Now tawny in the sunset, head cocked to the side, ready and willing to hear what he had to say.

"Whadda 'bout me?" He asked dumbly his brain not computing fast enough to connect the dots. She smiled and the computing of his brain lagged further behind.

"Plans. What were your plans?"

And for a second he felt the familiar tighten in his chest. That feeling he got whenever she beamed that megawatt smile at him, the same feeling he got when she first asked him if he wanted to be friends. It was the feeling of falling in love with her. She didn't know what it meant to him, that she asked his opinion, what he wanted. Even if she didn't agree, she always asked. In a life where everyone wanted something out of him, she always asked what he wanted. He scratched his head a little having to think and concentrate.

"Dunno... don't think I ever had a plan. Too busy trying to steal food from Pop's and not get lost." He smiled a little, mirthlessly realizing it was the truth and a jolt of electricity ran through his arm as Akane squeezed his hand. She had a sad little smile on her face but said nothing. They had talked before about growing up with Genma Saotome as his father, it was a harsh reality but it was his.

"I think, I was just planning on being a traveling Martial Arts Master. Going 'round the world looking for the next skill to learn, opponent to fight. Didn't know nothing else."

He couldn't NOT look at her, not when she was making maddeningly little circles on the top of his hand. Her index finger tattooing some design on his skin he was sure from the sensation should leave a visible mark. If he hadn't been looking at her, he wouldn't have seen the blush across her cheeks as she ducked her head to ask the next logical question.

"And now?"

And now? What a question. Did he have a plan now? Nope, not really. Planning required thinking beyond the day to day, it wasn't something he had ever had the luxury to do. And frankly his life was still as such that it never occurred to him to make plans. Maybe that was the problem.

"Feh. Like you said too much crazy for plans." She nodded her head, he didn't miss the sadness that crossed her face.

"But I mean, you can still have your plan 'Kane. I mean you got good grades, despite the crazy, you can go to University." Even as he said it, it left a sour taste in his mouth. She'd go off to University without him, meet some college boy, or worse get herself into some kind of trouble and get herself hurt. It was too much to keep the scowl off his face so he just looked off into the distance.

She made a non-committal noise and sighed, she was doing that an awful lot lately.

"Yeah well, my grades aren't good enough to get me a scholarship. Not with all the absences I've had. We don't really have the money to pay for me to go to a good school, not with the Dojo still not making money. So it's all moot anyway. Besides..." she trailed off into silence, removing her hand from the top of his. She looked nervous and fidgety, she wouldn't meet his eyes. He could feel her remaining hand clasped in his, trembling ever so slightly.

"Besides what?" This was important he could tell, every instinct in him trying to read her like an opponent.

"Nevermind." She shook her head, blue black hair flying softly, she still wouldn't meet his eyes.

"'Kane..." He coaxed. Her muscles tensed, he could see her pulse beating under the pearly silk of her skin. She swallowed hard, biting her lip, eyes downcast and darting everywhere on roof but at him.

"It's nothing. I was rambling. Just forget about it." He was shocked to hear the restrained sob in her voice. Bending over, he tried to catch her eyes, but she turned away. Her eyes closed, visibly straining. It was all too much for the curious boy who never did learn when it was time to stop pushing his tomboy.

"Come on 'Kane just tell me. What is it?"

Whether it was the built up emotion from their fight only a few hours ago, or just the stress that had weighed down on her for a year now, whatever it was it forced Akane into her defensive mode and that mode was anger. With a frustrated growl she wrenched her hand free and stood up. All of it happening in the fraction of a second as her proclamation rang in the pig-tailed boys ears.

"I don't want to be alone anymore! There! Are you happy?"

He could only stare dumbly as she turned her back to him and hurriedly tried to get off the roof, away from him at all speed. But as quick as she was to run away, Ranma was quicker. In a flash of movement she could barely see he had reached her and spun her around, his hand not releasing her upper arm from his grasp. She strained against him, face red with embarrassment as well as anger. He grabbed her other arm, effectively keeping her from slipping away unless she wanted to resort to her older methods of dealing with him and punt him into the skyline. But that was the Akane before Jusendo and this was the Akane after. Instead she stilled, arms hanging limply at her sides, eyes shut, tears falling unchecked.

And now that he had her, what did he do with her? Wasn't that the question of his life?

For a moment he felt the all too familiar panic rising in him, that same feeling that made him bolt from the scene whenever they got too close. Or made him wedge his foot so far up his trap that he deserved the one way trip via Mallet Airlines. It wouldn't take much to jump off the roof and be gone for a while. But she looked so fragile in his hands, with her eyes closed not even facing him. Her skin unearthly pale now that the sun had set. She had looked pale then too... he shook his head and fought back the panic.

"I ain't good at this shit 'Kane." It just came tumbling out of his mouth, he winced at his crassness. "I-I don't know what to do." That last bit came out softer, almost desperate even to his own ears. He blushed in-spite of himself. He was no Romeo, he never said the right thing even if he wanted to. He wanted to, by all the gods he wanted to. All he wished for was to make it through this one damn conversation.

She wasn't saying anything, she wasn't trying to pulverize him either, just standing there breathing raggedly. She finally glanced his way, whole body shaking slightly as she tore her at bottom lip mercilessly.

"Dammit Ranma! I don't know either!" She clenched her fist and for a moment and he braced for a punch. But it never came, instead she pounded at her thighs and looked up at the sky. "It's not like any of this came with a manual. Hell it's not even like I have some sort of previous experience to base this on. Not that would have done me any good anyways." There was a mirthless smile on her face when she finally cast her dark eyes at him. "Don't you think I would have fixed this by now if I could?" and then something far worse than a punch, "Maybe there is no fixing this."

In an instant he was furious.

"So what you're just going to throw in the towel? You're going to quit and be an uncute coward!?" There were no gods, at least none that took pity on him. It's not like he wanted to insult her, but he was mad, and frustrated. She was giving up! She was giving up on him.

"It's been three years now idiot! Nothing has changed! What are we supposed to do?" Her voice was raw and as angry as his and he couldn't look at her. His heart ached too much, but he couldn't just leave, not with her not even going to give them a chance. He paced the roof like a caged tiger. Turning to yell out the only answer he knew.

"We Fight!" His fist were clenched, he'd fight someone right now! Anything to alleviate the pressure in his chest, anything to take his mind off the fact that she didn't want him anymore...

"I'm tired of fighting the whole world and still being alone!" He stopped his maddening pacing standing perfectly still. Her shoulders were slumped, her fists were clenched and the tears still falling from her eyes. He always seemed to make her cry. "Everything can change in an instant!" She pleaded with him to understand, "If-if something were to happen, I don't want this to be all there was-"

"Just stop Akane! I mean-, just stop." He didn't want to hear that line of thought, the fact that she was even bringing it up as a possibility. His breath was erratic, he tried to inhale fully.

"No! I won't stop. Whether you want to admit it or not, I almost died Ranma!" She took a deep ragged breath as if saying that had been equivalent to one of her brick bustin' work outs. "I know you just want to brush it off, because it detracts from you saving the day. But I almost died! I-I..." The sobs started in earnest now and in a flash Ranma was at her side. She tried half heartedly to dodge him, to slap him. But she was crying too hard to really aim anywhere and he easily captured both her slim wrists before crushing her to him. His chin on top her head, he tried to steady his racing heart. He took a deep breath getting a whiff of her citrus shampoo and just tried to make the shaking stop.

"Shhhh" Who he was trying to sooth by rubbing her back as she cried he didn't know. "You got it all wrong, as usual tomboy." His voice was gravel and he had to concentrate real hard, else lose it completely and start water dripping from his own eyes. Sometimes she was a dummy.

"You think I don't know what almost happened?" He gripped her tighter to his chest as the images came unwillingly to his mind. Her perfect doll face, eyes closed with that sad smile. The weight of her lifeless body in his arms, the paleness of her cheeks. "Stupid, stupid girl. I was there, I held you. Y-you weren't breathing." He felt her push back from his chest a little, but he couldn't say this and look at her. The memories were too fresh in his mind to loosen his grip, he needed to feel her and know she was real. "Don't think for a second I don't know how fucking lucky I am that you're so damn stubborn. That you fought through it and lived. My god 'Kane, why do you think I've been such a freak about letting you go out alone since then? When you aren't where you're suppose to be, it's like it's happening all over again. I'm going to find you too late, and-that's it. Might as well end it then and there."

He took a deep shaky breath his vision distinctly blurry. Dammit he wasn't going to cry. Men didn't cry. She was fine, she was safe, he was holding her. And for once in their unlucky chaotic lives no one was interrupting them. No fathers about to throw a surprise wedding, no pyscho fiancées throwing bombs, no squealing pigs, no blackmail (that he knew of anyways). Just them and violet hue of the sky as dark clouds rolled in, maybe there were gods after all.

He felt her fiddling with the clasp of his shirt, and felt more than heard her response.

"We never talked about. You never even mention Ju-Jusendo. I just assumed you didn't- that you don't think about. That it didn't matter..."

He resisted the urge to punch something, preferably his own face.

"Why the hell would I want to talk about the worst day of my life? It ain't enough that I have to see that nightmare every damn night?" He stiffened instantly, the urge to pound his own face redoubling.

Her reaction was almost as instantaneous, her ox like strength suddenly returned to her as she forcibly pushed off his chest enough to look him in the face, quite a feat since he really didn't want her to.

"You have nightmares too?"

It was a testament to the School of Anything Goes Martial Arts very thorough training in evasive measures that without conscious effort Ranma was able to dodge that question with the mere intensity of his eyes and a well placed deflection.

"You've been having nightmares? For how long? What about?"

She drew away from him slightly. "It's nothing." He didn't know whether it was the chill of the breeze or something else the made her bring her arms up. She kept her head down, shifting her weight slightly from foot to foot slowly.

"Sometimes... I'm a doll again." She seemed to shrink into herself a little, taking a moment to clench her fists and carry on. "And it's so unimaginably hot, like everything in your body is just... crushing and burning and it will never stop. No one can hear me scream, no one. I'm just laying there unable to do anything but burn, and then...then I watch as you're fighting Saff-that thing. And there's blood. So much blood...and there's nothing I can do. I just watch...as you fall." She was trying to steady her breathing, tears streaming down her face, one hand clenched to her chest. Her eyes staring off into oblivion, he knew she was trying to banish away the images. He knew because he'd done it himself countless times.

His hands spasmed wanting to reach out and hold her again, but without the urgency of anger and emotion it seemed like an impossible thing. So he stood there staring at her.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

Those glassy tear filled eyes threw him a harsh glare.

"Oh yes, as easy as that." Her voice mocked "Hey Ranma, I know you've been completely avoiding talking about that severely traumatic thing that happened in China and just laugh it off, but I've been having horrible nightmares that won't let me sleep about you and I dying there, can we talk?"

It was his turn to sigh and run an agitated hand through his hair. Briefly he wondered whether or not it would just be better if he threw himself off the roof, it seemed like it might be more productive.

"It just seemed like you didn't care." The softest voice, just enough to actually throw him off the edge.

"For god's sake Akane! Of course I care!" He threw his hands in the air, ready to strangle something. There was nothing to do but holler. "You almost died on me! I fucking care about that! I care enough that you being out of the same room sends me into a panic! You think I don't care that the woman I love is having so many nightmares that she's getting pale and weak, and it's my goddamn fault! Because you shouldn't have been in that position Akane, I should have kept you safe!-"

"What did you say?" She was staring at him with those enormous brown eyes as if he'd just announced the secrets of the universe. It knocked him completely off of his tirade more effectively than a punch to the gut. What had he said? He was saying a lot of things. Mostly he was saying that she was completely off her rocker for thinking he wouldn't care, but that couldn't be what made her look at him with such vulnerability. A fragile flower just trying to bloom.

He scratched the back of his head, frantically trying to remember if he said anything that would have insulted her.

"Uhh...I said I should have kept you safe." Even as the words left his mouth he knew they weren't the right words, but it would at least give him time to think.

She shook her head, brief scowl crossing her face. "No, before that."

"I said...uuuhh" Finally he stumbled on it. He had called her "the woman he loved". The alarm bells in his brain were racketing off, and he knew in an instant he was blushing from head to toe. But that was the danger of admitting things in your head. Sooner or later you are bound to let them slip. He could feel his heart pounding, the heat rising in his skin. That old familiar "get the hell out of dodge!" taking root.

It was the Wedding Fiasco all over again. She had looked at him with that same pristine pure face, those same brown eyes, and he'd choked. They'd been playing the same broken record since then. And now here he was, a few badly chosen words and flight instinct away from getting stuck in the same rotation. Except this time he was tired. This time he hadn't just gotten back from an emotional roller coaster of a trip that could have killed her and him. This time there was no nannichuan. No fathers. He hadn't just days ago admitted to himself that he loved her thinking it was too late. He'd been saying it to himself daily, screaming it out in his dreams nightly. Would it really be so terrible to say it now?

He looked up and right into her wavering eyes. The last of twilight was fading, blanketing the sky. She looked so tired and beautiful and hopeful.

He widened his stance. Feet shoulder width apart, knees bent. Took a deep breath, ready to take on the world. Even if it did all fall down on him after this. Somehow he managed to look her straight in the eye.

"I said you are the woman that I love."

He heard a sharp intake of breath, and for a moment wondered if he was in store for a malleting. But that was the last coherent thought that passed through his frontal lobe.

Because Akane Tendo was kissing him. His uncute tomboy had moved faster than he gave her credit for, wrapped her arms around his neck and was kissing him. Her lips were soft, her body oh so warm. Once again, like those few precious times before that he found himself wrapped in her arms, he felt the peaceful rightness of it all. It was like slipping into a hot bath after getting his ass kicked. It was such an unusual feeling. Sanctuary. He had so few things to compare to it. In his awe, it was all that he could do to keep standing.

He felt her lower lip tremble with uncertainty and the pleasant pressure of her lips against his begin to lessen as she started pull away. It was that small gesture that flipped the switch from awe to something he had no name for. He grabbed her by the waist reclaiming the lost inches she had started to put between them. There would be none of that. One hand set between her shoulder blades as if it had always known it's place there to ensure that there would be no retreat. Not this time. This time he was on the offensive. His mouth hungrily resealed hers. She had gasped at the sudden onslaught, a sound that Ranma found far and away better than those damn sighs.

She was honey and fire and everything that was right and good in the world all embodied in one perfect human being. There was one small voice left in Ranma's head that hissed, "We should have done this ages ago..." before melting in with the rest of him that could only think to continue kissing his fiance. Her hands tightened into his shoulder when he gripped her hip tighter and he couldn't help but smirk into her lips. She matched him flame for flame, grip for grip, sigh for sigh. His bright burning Akane, she was his match. It was a kiss of promise and as he pulled away his lips from hers he couldn't help but grin from ear to ear. Her beautiful eyes fluttered open and she whispered the words that fueled that grin to it's cockiest and most pleased it had ever been.

"I love you too."

He dropped sweet light kisses at the corner of the mouth that caused him such joy. Feeling like he could take on all his old enemies in one blow! For the first time in a long time she looked completely happy. A faint blush crossed her cheeks and soon she found herself grinning as well. Neither one made any effort to part, her arms still wrapped around his neck lightly running her hands on his braid. Forehead to forehead grinning like school children with a secret.

"Now what?" She whispered as if anything more would break the moment they were in.

"Now we get the hell off this roof before the Apocalypse happens." The quip was meant in jest, and did earn a soft chuckle out of her, but there was some truth edged in the smart assery.

It was his turn to sigh, not removing his forehead from hers. Eyes looking from side to side guardedly. It wouldn't be out of the norm for some goddamn villain to come thundering out of the corners and whisk her away in maniacal laughter. It really was a miracle that nothing, as in absolutely nothing, had interrupted them as of yet. But he didn't want to move. How would he ever find himself in Akane's embrace again? He wasn't entirely certain how the hell he had gotten here in the first place. God knows he had the worst luck. Hadn't they been fighting a moment ago? Right now they seemed to understand each other, as if they had finally gotten on the right channel. If they left the roof, if he let her step out of his arms, would they suddenly go flying back to the opposite ends of the Universe? Some part of Ranma's brain knew he was thinking ridiculous things, but stranger things had happened and a real fear began to claw at him. His tightened his hold on her and looked her straight in the eye.

"'Kane..." He could see it all mirrored in her eyes. The fear, the uncertainty, the chance to be happy. They were two little kids who never did get taught how things like emotions and relationships worked, now fully grown and just making it up as they went along. " I don't want-I just-I mean I…", his failure of a sentence died on his lips with a bit of a frustrated moan. He hadn't lied before, he was no good at this.

"What do you want Ranma?" it was little more than a whisper and laced with a tremble that stirred a reflex in him to pull her closer. She was afraid, but there was steel under those velvet eyes. What they had was fragile, but it didn't have to be. It could be unbreakable, they just had to be a little more courageous. He swallowed the lump that had built up in his throat. Diversion and retreat were both well used tactics in the School of Anything Goes Martial Arts, but so was tenacity and sheer will power.

"I don't know what we do next, or how we fix-well, the crazy. But I do know this," He hadn't moved his forehead more than a few centimeters from hers and now starred dead center into her eyes with a certainty that he rarely felt, "Whatever happens, I want to figure it out with you. You and me, together, side by side. That's what I want." He watched as the tremble in her eyes evaporated and the smile spread starting from her eyes to that bewitching mouth. It was contagious he couldn't help but smile back.

"What do you want Akane?"

"That. All of that. Everything you just said. I can't go back to the way it was before. I want a future. I want us to make a future."

"Alright then. Good. That's settled." He nodded his head seriously, a growing sense of elation and surrealism kicking in. They both chuckled knowing that little was actually settled, and may never. But as long as this one piece stood, as long as they remained together the rest didn't matter. By now they both were starting to blush realizing that they were in fact still holding on to one another, neither wanting to move.

"So…?" Ranma raised his eyebrows with high blush and a small uncertain smile. Akane smiled blushing as well ducking her head to the side. This new up-close coyly smiling Akane was quickly climbing the ranks of his favorite things. He was busy staring unabashedly at her profile in the growing darkness as she looked up at the sky looking content.

"Well...I think we should go inside. I'd rather not press our luck further, plus it's getting cold."

He hadn't noticed, most likely due to his core temperature having rocketed up first from anger and adrenaline and then from far more pleasant emotions. The wind was picking up and neither of them had long sleeves on. They pulled apart slowly, Ranma refusing to relinquish Akane's hand until she was going down the ladder. Some part of him not believing what had just happened, that at any moment it would all fade and he'd wake up.

He slide easily through the window into her bedroom, brain still in a pleasant haze, not entirely capable of thought beyond replaying the kiss in his mind. Something had happened. Something big had changed. Everything wasn't magically fixed, and there was still a hell of a lot of troubling things to worry about, but that was the nature of his life. Even so, knowing all that, he felt lighter, better than he could ever remember. Like the world had somehow righted itself. When the small soft hand slipped into his, he knew this was one change he never wanted to take back.

"Look Ranma, it's raining." Pulled from his reverie by her soft laughter, he looked out the window where the rope ladder still hung and sure enough a peaceful pattering of rain was falling outside. Maybe it was the chemical cocktail that the roller coaster of the past 12 hrs had been making in his brain, maybe it was was clarity that can only be found once you stop doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. But looking out that window at the rain, that for once in his insane life waited, WAITED for him to be safely inside, instead of ruining everything, felt like the calm after a storm. He laughed an exhausted elated sound and pulled Akane closer to him by the shoulders. Her head fell easily on his shoulder a peaceful smile painting her lovely face. Maybe his luck had finally fucking changed. Praise the gods.

He knew that he would likely spend the next several weeks, if not his entire life, wondering how in the hell they managed to survive everything they did and make it to this one blissful moment. It was a heady feeling. Like he could take on any challenge, defeat any foe.

"Hey, 'Kane?" The idea had sprung up in his head and before he had a chance to stop himself he had spoken, she looked up at him content and curious. He felt himself blush. She was just too damn pretty sometimes.

"C-can I kiss you again?"

Akane's eyes grew wide and an attractive blush spread over her cheeks. For a moment he was afraid he had frightened her, or angered her, or honestly displeased her in any way shape or form. But her lips turned up into a coy smile and he could feel himself start to smile as well.

"Again, Saotome? I was the one that kissed YOU. So in point of fact you haven't kissed me yet, at all."

She looked smug and adorable. Her eyes sparkled with challenge. There was really only one thing Ranma Saotome could do in the face of a challenge.

"Well, if that's how it's going to be." He grabbed her by the waist and pulled her flush against him. Both of them grinning, some part of them knew that there would be harder battles to come, but maybe none of that mattered. He would worry about it tomorrow. Right now he had a tomboy to kiss and for once luck was on his side.

* * *

I can't vouch for the time linehere. In my head the manga series took place over 2 years and by the end of it Ranma and Akane were heading off to their third year of highschool. Which would mean that this takes place sometime in their senior year. But I did not look into Japanese highschool timelines or the manga timeline itself so that could be completely off the mark. Just know that for the sake of this story they were 16 when they met, 17 when Jusendo happened and around about 18 now.

I do still love this crazy world and characters. Good times. Ranma and Akane forever 3

Comment and critics are always welcomed!


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